Helpful tips and troubleshooting techniques

Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is not only a powerful plugin, but the ecosystem around it is just as robust. While we do our best to keep its footprint small and build with intent, it's not uncommon for EDD or one of its extensions to run into technical issues.

Our support team is more than willing to help track down issues. However, because no two WordPress sites are exactly alike, there is always a chance that troubleshooting directly on your site will reveal the cause of the issue.

To resolve issues as quickly as possible, try using the trusted troubleshooting tips and techniques below.

Check for plugin conflicts

A plugin conflict happens when two separate plugins are activated at the same time and either of them experiences unusual behavior because of how it interacts with the other. The interaction may not always be obvious, so there is no room for assumption. Any two plugins can conflict with each other.

To check for a plugin conflicting with EDD, follow these steps:

1. Temporarily deactivate all plugins besides EDD and, if applicable, a particular EDD extension that is experiencing an issue. It is important that you do not assume that certain plugins cannot conflict with the EDD ecosystem. For proper testing, deactivate them all.

2. Check to see if the original problem persists. If it does, there is no plugin conflict and you can stop here. If it does not persist, you have a plugin conflict. Move to step 3.

3. Reactivate your plugins one by one. After each reactivation, check the functionality once more to see when the issue presents itself again. As soon as the issue returns, the last plugin you activated is conflicting with EDD (or its extension).

4. Determine the importance of the other plugin. If it is not something that you actually use, simply get rid of it. If you do use it, attempt to track down if there is a particular setting that triggers the conflict. The more information you can gather in this stage, the better.

Check for theme conflicts

While theme conflicts are a little less common, they still happen from time to time. Checking for a theme conflict is simple. Follow the steps below.

1. Temporarily switch your WordPress theme to a default theme like Twenty Sixteen or Twenty Seventeen, as these are considered standard themes in the WordPress environment.

2. Check to see if the issue persists. If it does, there is no theme conflict and you can stop here. If it does not persist, you have a theme conflict. Move to step 3.

3. At this point, it still may be hard to say whether there is a problem in EDD or in your theme. Use your best judgment to choose a path, and contact either our support or your theme developer's support to describe the issue.